Matsuyama-shi Station 松山市駅
Matsuyama-shi Station (as known as Matsuyama City Station or shieki) is the other major railway station in Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku along with JR Matsuyama Station.
Matsuyama-shi Station (also known as Matsuyama City Station or "shieki") is the other major railway station in Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku along with JR Matsuyama Station.
Matsuyama-shi Station is nearer to the center of town and its attractions including Matsuyama Castle.
Matsuyama-shi Station is a much more imposing structure than JR Matsuyama Station as it is built into a large Takashimaya department store with a Ferris wheel on top and the underground shopping arcade Matsuchika Town below. Matsuyama-shi Station is the older of the two stations having opened in 1888.
Matsuyama City Station is the terminus for rail, tram, and bus services of Iyo Railway (Iyotetsudo), the first private railway company to operate on Shikoku and the third private railway to run trains in Japan.
Matsuyama-shi Station Trains
Matsuyama-shi Station has Iyotetsudo trains running on three lines. The 9.4km Takahama Line to Takahama, the 13.2km line to Yokogawara and the 10.7km Gunchu Line to Gunchuko (Gunchu Port).
Matsuyama City Station is also a station on three of Iyotetsudo's five tram lines that circuit the city. The next stop from Matsuyama City Station, Minami-Horibata is on all five lines.
The five routes are: Route 1 a clockwise loop from Matsuyama-shi Station to JR Matsuyama Station to Kiyacho to Teppocho to Okaido and Matsuyama City Station; Route 2 an anti-clockwise loop from Matsuyama-shi Station to Okaido to Teppocho to Kiyacho to JR Matsuyama Station and Matsuyama-shi Station; Route 3 from Dogo Onsen via Okaido to Matsuyama-shi Station; Route 5 from Dogo Onsen via Okaido to JR Matsuyama Station; Route 6 from Dogo Onsen via Okaido to Honmachi 6-chome. (There is no Route 4)
Buses From Matsuyama Station
Highway buses also run from outside Matsuyama City Station to Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, Fukuyama, Kochi, Takamatsu and Tokushima. Local Iyotetsudo buses run within the city.
A Shikoku Highway Bus 3-day Rider is available for 6,600 yen for adults.
Iyotetsudo also operates the Botchan Ressha, a tourist steam train that runs out to Dogo Onsen from Matsuyama-shi Station. The small steam engines were imported from Germany and were in use from 1887 to 1954. They have now been reintroduced as a tourist attraction and are called Botchan as they are mentioned in Natsume Soseki's novel of that name.
Ehime Free Wifi (SSID: Ehime_Free_Wifi) is available on Iyotetsu limousine buses, city trams and the Botchan Ressha.
City taxis congregate around the station.
Hotels near Matsuyama-shi Station
There are several hotels near Matsuyama-shi Station, though more are situated close to JR Matsuyama Station. Hotels near Matsuyama-shi Station include the 3-star Tokyo Dai-ichi Hotel Matsuyama, and the Matsuyama New Grand Hotel, also 3-star.